seemed more romantic than the scar of witnessing the old traditional festival of ‘Bat Killing’. It isn’t recommended for people with bat phobia.

Every year in the month of January, the lesser known Pongging village comes alive to celebrate the Bat Killing festival which has always been a source of merriment. The Panyang community living at Pompik Adi in Pongging village since time immemorial has been organizing the 200-year-old ‘Bat Killing’ festival.  It is believed that the practice of killing thousands of bats once in a year helps in maintaining the natural demographic balances of bats.

Environmentalists may frown at the rite, but the Panyangs (Adi) feel it is an occasion to bond with their fellow tribesmen. On the festive occasion, hundreds of men, women and children with bamboo poles in their hands swarm into a natural cave at ‘Pompik Adi’ at Pongging village outskirts to kill over a thousand bats as part of the festival. The Panyangs believe that the practice of killing bats for meat once in a year helps in controlling the bat population.

“The community bat hunting is an annual festival steeped in tradition. We feel that it is an occasion to bond with our family members. This is the time of the year when all members of the community who have dispersed to different places reunite on the banks of the Siang, hunt bats and feast on the meat,” 75 year-old Rende Panyang, the Chieftain said.

The cave is located on the left bank of the Siang River. It measures 6.5 meters in height and 3.5 meters in breadth and is 200 meters in depth. Though the ‘hunting festival’ is exclusively for a clan of Panyang among Adis, the headman sometimes invites other tribes to be part of the bat-killing expedition. “Ponpik Adi Preservation and Protection Society” guards the cave from the reach of others and thus nobody other than the members of the clan which owns the cave is allowed to hunt in it.

Some archaeologists and researchers of the state have revealed that Pongging cave could be a boon to the local people for their economic activities through development as a tourist destination as such types of caves would attract foreign tourists particularly ornithologists and adventurers. It is worth mentioning that a team of research officers of the Museum and Archaeology Department led by the then Cultural Affairs Commissioner Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi and Director Research Tage Tada had visited Pongging village and investigated the natural cave in 2006. They had said that development activities including an approach road and improvement of the cave should to be taken up without interference to the traditional practice of the tribals and the natural settlement of the bat population.

So, step out of your comfort zone and re-discover the secrets of the wild at Pongging Village of Arunachal Pradesh and be a part of the wildest celebration of the bat killing festival. Though some may frown on the rite, for the more adventurous and for the faint hearted to conquer their fears, a trip to Pongging in January is a must. Come face your deepest fears, surmount them, adapt to the surroundings and enjoy the feast of delectable delights of bat meat.

Chow Bilaseng Namchoom